1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to a peak detector, and more particularly to a resettable peak detector that generates a nonoverlapping phased output signals.
2. Description of Related Art
Today's wireless communications markets are being driven by a multitude of user benefits. Products such as cellular phones, cordless phones, pagers, and the like have freed corporate and individual users from their desks and homes and are driving the demand for additional equipment and systems to increase their utility. As a result digital radio personal communications devices will play an increasingly important role in the overall communications infrastructure in the next decade.
Mixed-signal integration and power management have taken on added importance now that analog and mixed analog-digital ICs have become the fastest-growing segment of the semiconductor industry. Integration strategies for multimedia consoles, cellular telephones and battery-powered portables are being developed, as well as applications for less integrated but highly specialized building blocks that serve multiple markets. These building blocks include data converters, comparators, demodulators, filters, amplifiers and voltage regulators.
One important aspect of digital radio personal communications devices is the integration of the RF sections of transceivers. Compared to other types of integrated circuits, the level of integration in the RF sections of transceivers is still relatively low. Considerations of power dissipation, low offset budgets, form factor, and cost dictate that the RF/IF portions of these devices evolve to higher levels of integration than is true at present. Nevertheless, there are some key barriers to realizing these higher levels of integration.
For example, there are many applications where it's necessary to provide an RF peak detector circuit in an RF receiver system to determine level and offset signal values. These values are used as the inputs in subsequent circuits. For peak detectors, nonoverlapping phased output signals and resettability are required to provide the proper signaling to subsequent circuitry. In some components, such as a demodulator, the bit error rates (BER) start to degrade for signal levels above and below predetermined levels. This is due to offsets within such components. As a result, resettable circuitry and reliable level and offset information is necessary to provide signals within a predetermined range and to eliminate transient voltages.
It can be seen then that there is a need for an peak detector to provide level and offset signaling. Specifically, a peak detector that is resettable and provides a nonoverlapping phased output to eliminate transient voltages.